Combined bag and inflatable pillow



Feb. 22, 1949. w. z'. NORMAN E-rAl. '2,462,215

` COMBINED BAG AND INFLATABLE PILLOW v Filed sebi. 18, 1946 5 INVENToRs wnLLlAM z. NORMAN JULIUS BILLIG Patented Feb. 22, 1949 2,462,215

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE )COMBINED BAG AND INFLATABLE PILLOW William Z. Norman and Julius Billig, New York, N. Y., assignors to Bilnor Corp., a corporation of New York Application September 18, 1946, Serial No. 697,606

6 Claims. (Cl. 5-34D 1 o 2 Our invention relates to inflatable devices, and although it should be understood that the sheeting more particularly to a combination bag and utilized is one which bonds to itself by the appliiniiatable pillow. cation of heat and pressure.

An object of our invention is to provide an The top or iiap section I is shown perfectly attractive, lightweight, waterproof, portableV cylindrical in shape, but it should be understood hand-carrying bag which is useful for carrying o that in practice, this portion will seldom, if ever, beach-wear orother articles, and which can be retain this contour because the pliable and flexible inflated for use as a pillow. character of the material from which it is made Another object is to provide a lightweight, hand will cause the flap to fold and assume a less symcarrying receptacle having a plurality of inliatable i metrical conguration. Actually, in the deflated compartments along the major portion of its condition assumed for Fig. 1,'the opposed halves length, and so designed as to eliminate the need of the flap fold toward each other and tend to for threads in its fabrication. o close the opening to the bag, when the bag is car- A more specific object is to provide a combinaried by the draw string 5.

tion handbag and inflatable pillow which is made The draw string 5 comprises a suitable endless from a single sheet of thermoplastic material, cord, which passes through two pairs of grommets and which is provided with iniiatable intercomor metal eyelets 6, 6 located near the bottom of municating compartments in association with an the flap l.

air valve acting both as an inlet and an outlet The intermediate section 4 is bonded tothe for the compartments. liap I and to the bottom section 2 along the lines A better understanding of our ,invention may 1, l. Section 4 is composed of a plurality of inbe had from a reading of the following description iiatable air compartments 8, 8' separated from one which is accompanied by a drawing, wherein: another by means of longitudinally arranged par- Fig. 1 shows an elevation or perspective view allel and co-extensive seams or bond lines 9, 9 of the combination bag and pillow of our invenwhose ends are spaced from the cross-wise runtion in deliated condition; lning bond lines 1, l. A centrally located longitu- Fig. 2 shows the bag of Fig. 1 in inilated condidinally extending bond or seam 9 extends over tion and ready for use as a pillow; v the entire length of the bag. Since the interme- Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 2 along diate section 4 comprises two thicknesses of sheetthe line 3 3; 30 ing, suitably sealed or bonded together at lines Fig. 4 is a view of the combination bag and 1, l, it will be apparent that the compartments pillow looking at it from the bottom; 8, 8 are intercommunicating at their ends. The Fig. 5a shows a Side View 0f the air valve; longitudinally extending bond lines 9, 9 and 9 are Fig. 5b is a longitudinal section through the air preferably equi-distanitly Spaedvalve, the bag being torn away to show the manner The bond lines or seams 9, 9 and T, 1 may be 0f of securing the iiexible tube of the air valve to any Suitable Width, and may be produced by any the bag; known and suitable method, preferably by the so- Fig, 6 is a vertical @msg section through the called electronic heating method. To obtain these bag of Fig. 1 looking at the valve; and bond lines or seams by electronic heating, the

Fig. 7 illustrates, generally, the manner in 40 thermoplastic material is employed as a dielectric the Combination bag and of our in a frequency electric eld. In practice, invention can be fabricated from a single sheet two thicknesses of material are run through elecof thermoplastic material, trodes which set up a high frequency field therey Referring to the drawing in more detail, wherein beffe/eeh Wheehy a high qegree 0f heat S geh like reference numerals in the several figures indi- 5 @rated 1h the thermeplestle mateflal There iS cate similar elements, the iniiatable bag and pilconcurrently applied pressure t0 the WO thicklow comprises a top or iiap section l, a bottom nesses of material at the-points to be bonded :to

. section 2 terminating in a rosette 3, and an interthereby effect a seal or bond which becomes virmediate section 4. These sections are made from tually integral with the material with no observaa thermoplastic or thermosetting synthetic plastic 0 ble line of division at the bonding lines between sheeting material capable of being rendered plasthe thickness joined together. In this way, highly tic and tacky on heating. Such a material may durable airtight seams are produced at edges 1, be a polyvinyl plastic produced under the trade- 9 and 9'. i

Aname Vinylite. The specific chemical nature For inating the compartments 8, 8 of the deof the sheeting -is no part of our invention, v vice of our invention, there isA provided an ad- .instable air valve which is located on the interior of the bag and sealed to the inner thickness of sheeting of the section 4 preferably near the flap I so as to be easily accessible to the wearer when it is desired to blow up the bag. This air valve may be any suitable type but is preferably of the pinch clamp type described in detail in our copending application, Serial No. 660,827 ledApril 9, 1946. The general construction of this valve which supplies air to the compartments 8, 8 is shown in Figs. 5a and 5b and comprises a, tube I2 preferably made of a thermoplastic material thereby to permit the upper end of the tube I2 to be bonded to the inner face or thickness? of the intermediate section 4. The pinch clamp for the air tube I2 comprises a male clamp member I'I having a threaded stem I8 in threaded engagement with a female clamp member I9. The free end of stem I8 is peened or enlarged to prevent the removal of clamp member I9 from the stem I8. Upon rotating clasp member I9 toward male member Il, the inner faces of the clamp members Il and I9 will constrict the channels ofthe tube I2. It is for this reason that we fashion the clamp members in the fashion of circular buttons or heads whose cooperating inner faces are fiat. Fig; 5a shows the closed position ofV the pinch clamp members I1 and I9. It is possible to prevent any escape of air through the channels of tube I2 merely by rotating button I9 as far as it can move in clamping position. readily permitted to escape by unscrewing the member I9 in the opposite sense.

The specific mode of coupling the upper end of tube I2 tothe inner thickness of intermediate section 4 is as follows: The upper end of tube I2, as shown in Fig. 5b is peened outwardly as at and bonded to the inner face of the inner thickness of sheeting. An opening has, of course, been previously provided to receive the tube end 2B. A thermoplastic collar or washer 2 I' has been slipped over the tube end 20 prior to fitting the latter into the bag interior. The collar 2| is bonded to the inner thickness of sheeting by means of heat and pressure. In other Words, a circular area of the inner thickness of sheeting is: sandwiched between peened end 20 and collar 2|; and bonded thereto. This mode of coupling provides an air-tight joint between the tube I2 and the bag.

The bottom section 2 comprises, in ei'ect, Aa continuation. of the intermediate sectionl. The lowermost portion of the bottom section isv folded or bunched together and the loose edges tightly joined together into a rosette by` a circular ther- `moplastic disc at zone 3, by means of heat and pressure.

A longitudinal cross-section of interior of the combination bag and inflatable pillow' of our in.- vention, looking toward the air valve, is shown in Fig. 6. Itshould be noted that both the top or ap section I and the intermediate section 4 are each made up oftwo` thicknesses of thermoplastic sheeting material, While the bottom section 2 is made up of onlyA one thickness of thermoplastic sheeting material. The frayed ends at the rosette zone 3 are the remains of the bottom bunched up or pleated portion which is cutoff after the rosette is formed, and does not show on the exterior of thebag.

The. central vertical lineS which extends over thev entire length of the bag of Figs. 1, 2 and 6 indicates the bond or seam which joins together thellongitudinal edges of. the sheeting from which the bag is made.

The air is In fabricating the inflatable device of our invention, it is preferred that we Iuse a single sheet of thermoplastic material which-is folded in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7. The rear portion of the folded sheet of Fig. 'l is somewhat longer than the front portion. The broken lines indicate generally the locations of the seams or bond lines and have been indicated similarly as in Figs. 1, 2` and 6. The circular holes for the locations of the eyelets 6, 6 and the air valve I2 have also been labeled. The bottom folded part of the single sheet of Fig. 7 constitutes the top or flap section I of the completed bag, while the single thickness part at the top of Fig. 7 constitutes the bottom section 2 of the completed bag. In the process of manufacture, the air valve I2 is preferably joined to the inner thickness of sheeting of Fig. 'l before the bond or seam lines I and 9 are made. After the bond or seam lines 'I and 9 are made, the vertical edges are bonded together by heat and pressure (electronically, preferably) to form the bond line 9 and thereby produce a cylindrical sheeting. The section 2 is then bunched and closed up at the rosette zone. The bag is thus fabricated in an inverted or insideout position.

An inspection of the inflated bag shown in Figs. 2 and 3, will reveal lateral air circulation passages between inflated compartments. The existance of these air circulation passages or grooves in the inflated bag when the device is used for long periods of time tends to prevent discomfort to the head of the user.

The combined bag-and pillow of, our invention is of course not limited to the precise method of manufacture set-forth above nor to the specific materials mentioned. And of'course, a pair of thermoplastic sheets of the same relative areas of the front and rear portions of the single sheet of Fig. 7 can be used instead of a folded single sheet by adding an additional seam to the fold line.

What is claimed is:

1; A combination hand-carrying bag and inilatable pillow, comprising a flap section open at the top, a bottom" closed section, and an intermediate section bonded to both said ap and bottom sections, said intermediate section comprising two thicknesses yof sheeting which are bonded together along a plurality of parallel spaced bond lines to thereby provide compartments, said compartments being intercommunieating at their ends, and meansl for inflating and deiiating saidl compartments.

2'. A combination hand-carrying bagy and inflatable pillow, comprising a flap section open at the top, a bottom closed section, and an intermediate section bonded to both said flap and bottorn sections, said intermediate. section comprising two thicknesses of sheeting which are bonded together along a plurality of parallel spacedlongitudinally' extending bond, lines. to. thereby provide compartments, said lines being coextensive and shorter than the length of said intermediate section,I whereby said compartments are. intercommunicating at their ends,. a seam extending along the entire length. of said bag and parallel to said lines, and an airl valve in the interior of said bag and joined' to the inner thickness of said intermediate section.

3; A combination bandi-carrying bag' and inflatable pillow, comprising aA flap sectionv open at the top,a bottomclosed section, and an intermediate section bondedtoboth said ap and' bottomsections, said intermediate section comprising two thicknesses of sheeting which' are bonded together along a plurality of parallel spaced longitudinally extending bond lines to thereby provide compartments, said lines being coextensive and shorter than the length of said intermediate section, whereby said compartments are intercommunicating at their ends, a seam extending along.

the entire length of said bag and parallel to said lines, an air valve in the interior of said bag and joined to the inner thickness of said intermediate section, gathering means in connection with the ap section for closing the latter, and a bottom disc of a diameter smaller than that of said intermediate section, the ultimate end of said bottom section being bonded to said disc in gathered folds.

4. A method of fabricating a combination hand-carrying bag and inflatable pillow which includes folding a single sheet of the thermoplastic material to provide opposed sections of unequal area, attaching a valving means to one of said sections, thermally bonding by the application of high frequency waves to said material the smaller area section to the larger area section transversely along a line near the free end of said smaller area section and also along a parallel line somewhat removed from the fold,

thermally bonding said two opposed sections together in similar manner along parallel lines which are spaced at all points from said first lines, thermally bonding together in similar manner the longitudinal or side edges o-f said two sections to form a hollow interior for said bag, and closing the free end of said larger area section.

5. A method of fabricating a combination hand-carrying bag and inflatable pillow which includes folding a single sheet of thermoplastic material to provide opposed sections of unequal area, attaching a valving means to one of said sections, thermally bonding by the application of high frequency waves to said material the smaller area section to the larger area section transversely along a line near the free end of said smaller area section and also along a parallel line somewhat removed from the fold, thermally bonding said two opposed sections together in similar manner along spaced longitudinal and substantially coextensive lines which stop short of at least one of said transversely extending lines, thermally bonding together in similar manner the longitudinal or side edges of said two opposed sections for their entire lengths to thereby provide a hollow interior for said bag, sealing together the free edges of the extra length of said larger area section to form the bottom oi said bag, and attaching gathering means to the folded end of said bag.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the sealing of the free edges of said larger area is accomplished by gathering said edges and sealing them to a disc of a circumference smaller than that of said hollow bag.

WILLIAM Z. NORMAN. JULIUSX BILLIG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Electronica Aug. 1943, Publication, (pages -93, incl., and 160-168, incl.) 

